longing
Americannoun
-
strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant.
filled with longing for home.
- Synonyms:
- aspiration
- Antonyms:
- apathy
-
an instance of this.
a sudden longing to see old friends.
adjective
noun
adjective
Related Words
See desire.
Other Word Forms
- longingly adverb
- longingness noun
Etymology
Origin of longing
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English langung; equivalent to long 2 + -ing 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Except a lot of longing on my part.
From Literature
What follows focuses on Martin and Lora’s daughter Josie, who forges a successful life—she goes to Harvard and starts a family—but can never vanquish her longing for her father’s return.
Imagine the emotions of listening to Garland, eyes raised and in a longing voice, singing, “Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue…”
There’s a longing buried deep within it, a vulnerability that stretches beyond the confines of the film and into the audience — not to shake sense into them, but to lay a hand on their shoulders.
From Salon
The title takes its name from a folk song about longing and separation that is often dubbed South Korea's unofficial national anthem.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
